🚀 go-pugleaf

pnta@warren.med.harvard.edu (Patrick Nta) writes:

>I was surprised to hear that we have more than 15 long distance phone
>companies (ATT, MCI, Sprint, Metromedia, etc) in the Boston area.

>I'm looking for a bargain!  If I can call California for cheap, I'm happy.
>Any Ideas?


I did a lot of research before picking my long-distance phone company, and
finally realized that they all charge more or less the same prices for
comparable calling programs (i.e. Sprint's Sprint Plus plan is about the
same as AT&T's America Online program is about the same as...you get the
idea). So what made up my mind for me was quality of service. I can't say
enough nice things about Sprint. I was a Sprint customer for almost 8 years
and never had a day of trouble with them. When I got my phone card stolen,
they assigned me a new number that same day and told me what it was so I
wouldn't have to wait for the card to arrive. 

About two months ago I switched to another long-distance company, not because
I was unhappy with Sprint, but because I like the way this new company does
business. They're called Working Assets Long Distance. Their prices are a 
few cents less than Sprint's, but that's not what sold me. Here's what did:

- Every month, WALD designates two issues of concern and gives you the phone
  numbers of people to contact about them. This month, for example, you could
  call the CEO of GM to urge him to build more fuel-efficient cars, or call
  the governor of Alaska to urge him to put an end to the state's practice
  of shooting endangered wolves to give hunters first crack at the caribou.
  The first Monday of the month is Free Speech Day, in which WALD will let
  you call these people for free (yes, FREE); the rest of the month, you get
  20 percent off those calls. You can also have WALD send 'em a mailgram and
  add the charge to your bill.

- You get a 3 percent discount on calls to other WALD subscribers.

- WALD uses Sprint's fiberoptic network -- good quality sound and stuff.

- Bills are printed on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper.

- Subscribers can round up their payments to the next highest dollar with the
  difference going to 36 groups in a donation pool voted upon by the
  subscribers each year. The difference is tax-deductible and goes directly
  to the groups with no "service charges" taken out.

I figure I'm going to make a lot of long-distance phone calls anyway; I may
as well put it to work for things I believe in while I'm at it.

For information, call Working Assets Long Distance at 1-800-788-8588. No, I 
do not work for them and am not being paid to post this. Just MHO.